Committee continues work toward baseline, quarterly report

Following an intense city council meeting, the Measure L Advisory Committee is set to meet 5:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall to discuss its quarterly report, the recent updates on forming a budget baseline, discussion over utilizing Measure L money to fund staff support time and ponder over a response to Mayor Dan Clark’s letter suggesting a re-visioning.

Following an intense city council meeting, the Measure L Advisory Committee is set to meet 5:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall to discuss its quarterly report, the recent updates on forming a budget baseline, discussion over utilizing Measure L money to fund staff support time and ponder over a response to Mayor Dan Clark’s letter suggesting a re-visioning.

Topping the list is the review and approval of a quarter report by the committee.

According to committee vice chairman Phil Salvatore, the report will have a compilation of everything from the baseline report he has been working on to an executive review. Salvatore indicated that committee member Michael Petersen was also compiling the information.

On the executive summary Salvatore said Friday, “I’m trying to make it as simple and non-eye glazing as possible to be read by the general public.”

The baseline budget overview includes data compiled by Salvatore with help from Assistant Finance Director Tess Sloan and Interim City Manager Dennis Speer.

“My goal is to target this history of spending at least through 2012 for the public to see,” Salvatore said. “It will explain where the money comes from and where it goes in to.”

Salvatore’s budget report indicates general fund support transfers occurred yearly to the gas tax fund up through 2012. The fund in 2011 and 2012 received no support from the general fund, according to Salvatore’s research.

The city’s Gas Tax Fund is an umbrella category for all city accounts that handle street projects, such as street maintenance, street construction and traffic signals. It contains a hodgepodge of different revenue source like the city's share of gas taxes, money from Transportation Development Act Article 8, Traffic Congestion Relief Fund and support transfers from the city's general fund.

Salvatore pointed that in FY 2011 support transfers from the general fund to other funds was $822,607 and FY 2012 was budgeted to have $354,000, of which none went to the gas tax fund.

While it will require tweaking in light of recent information, Salvatore’s budget indicates a general fund support for other transfers in 2013 was $1.5 million — the amount originally projected to come in from Measure L tax revenue. Salvatore said he suspects that was entirely Measure L money.

A reevaluation of anticipated Measure L money was necessary, with $1.13 million coming expected instead of $1.5 million.

“The 2013 budget is still a moving target,” he said.

In addition, because of harsh general fund cuts to the Ridgecrest police department, the city had to recalculate what went to streets and what went to police. RPD ended up with $896,700 and streets $238,300.

Funding staff support time through Measure L is an idea originally floated by community member Jim Fallgatter, drawing from his experience on the Oversight Board for the Ridgecrest Redevelopment Successor Agency. The winding down process for all RDAs after the state disbanded them has money set aside to fund overhead expenses like staff time.

Page 2 of 2 - One part of Clark’s suggestion to redefine the committee’s scope was that city manager would provide support staff once a quarter.

The concern from Mayor Clark has been constant staff time to help the committee placed a financial burden on departments already strapped for cash and time.

Whether the ordinance that governs the committee or the language of the Measure L law itself allows that has yet to be determined.

Addressing the mayor’s letter — presented at the Jan. 14 committee meeting, will include a reply to Ridgecrest, according to Salvatore.

The contents of the letter quickly became a point of contention between the committee, the community and the mayor.

The mayor’s letter itself, drafted up by the mayor with advice from the city attorney’s office, sought to clarify the Measure L Advisory Committee’s duties in what the mayor perceived as in accordance with the ordinance governing the committee, by reviewing expenses and expenditures and data related solely to Measure L.

Committee members disagreed, perceiving their duty as actively tracking data as it came in, reviewing finances related to road maintenance and public safety in order to ensure Measure L money augmented general roads and police funding, not replace it.

The matter boiled over, leading to a sharp exchange of viewpoints during Jan. 23 council meeting members of the public and community critics sounded off during public comment.

A council agenda item to address the retooling process had been pulled after a vote by the city council at the city attorney’s request, but public comment provided a sounding board for angry citizens.

Salvatore said the discussion at the full committee meeting may require a lot of discussion before putting pen to paper for a response.

“It will be a formal letter from the entire committee,” he said. “We’ve got to do a lot of hard thinking on that.”

The committee meets 5:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall in the City Hall Conference Room Area 'B.'